The sister of a teenager killed in a car accident on the way to her debs ball has lashed out at the sentence handed down to the driver.
Kiea McCann, 17 and Dlava Mohammad, 16, were killed when the car, which was being driven by Anthony McGinn, struck a tree en-route to the event, in Clones in Monaghan in 2023.
Dlava 's 19-year-old sister Avin also suffered life-altering injuries in the crash, which shocked the nation.
McGinn, 61, who was a friend of the McCann family, had offered to drive the teenagers to the Debs ball before the tragedy struck.
He had pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death for Kiea and Dlava and also to dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to Avin before being handed down a seven-year jail term at Monghan Circuit Court this week.
Kiea's sister, Michaela, has since responded to sentencing, calling it a cruel joke.'
'How can they put a price on human life and come up with such a pathetic sentence? My blood is boiling.
'Every single day, I'm haunted by the thought of my sister and her best friend, their futures stolen, their laughter silenced, all because of one person's reckless actions.
'And now, this person gets to walk out in seven years? It's a slap in the face, a cruel joke, an insult to their memory,' she said as per The Sun.
Michaela went on to talk of how she is 'consumed ' by her anger at the sentence and feels that it shows that some lives are worth less than others, and that her family will never be the same again.
Her words were echoed by her mother, Theresa, who said there was 'no justice' in the sentence, speaking outside the court.
During the trial, the court heard from Avin how she angrily told McGinn to slow down because he was speeding. Oisin Clerkin, who was also in the car, said that he had also asked him to slow down.
As well as the seven-year jail term, McGinn has also been banned from driving for 15 years.
